Parachute fatality at Cliffs

It was a bad weekend for accidents in County Clare, in one case a precision parachute jump going astray and resulting in a fatality, and the other involving a serious car crash.

The parachute jump incident occurred on Saturday at the Aill Na Searrach section of the Cliffs of Moher.

Three men went to the sport to undertake a ‘base jump’, when people jump from a fixed structure or cliff wearing a parachute or wingsuit.

The first man completed a safe jump but there was a tragic outcome for the second jumper whose parachute failed.

The Irish Coast Guard was alerted, while an ambulance, rapid response advanced paramedic unit and gardaí responded to the scene .

With good sea conditions, the Doolin Coast Guard craft was able to get close enough to the cliff base to allow three members make their way ashore.

The Shannon-based rescue helicopter winched a crew member on the shore below. The man was airlifted onto the helicopter and flown to Galway University Hospital but it was later confirmed he had died from his injuries.

Meanwhile, on Sunday morning a man was airlifted to hospital to University Hospital Limerick and two others brought by ambulance after their car crashed into a ditch at Knockalough, on the Ennis to Kilrush road.

The driver was left trapped in his vehicle for almost an hour as fire crews, using specialist equipment, worked to release him. A woman and teenager were safely assisted from the vehicle by fire crews and ambulance paramedics.

Two units of the fire brigade from Ennis along with two ambulances and a rapid response advanced paramedic unit were requested to respond to the incident. Gardaí closed the road so that emergency crews could work safely.

On Sunday afternoon, the helicopter was tasked once again when a nine-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital after his bicycle collided with a car in West Clare near Quilty. The child was not seriously injured.